[quote]doublelung84 wrote:
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
This kind of sucks because it’s going to devolve into a thread where a lot of people who don’t know shit about boxing are talking about boxing, and as someone who boxes that’s pretty difficult to listen to.
But that being said, it’s a pretty classic matchup that all of us - boxing fans, fighters, and non-fans alike - would have loved to see, because it’s the ultimate boxer against the ultimate puncher. The two of them in their primes, going at each other, would be awesome.
After all, Ali had the speed, technique, movement, footwork, and the timing to beat him, but Tyson had the power, speed and style to get inside and definitely had a puncher’s chance.
That being said, there’s one factor that can’t be ignored - Ali’s mouth, and his style of winning the fight before it even started. He did it to Joe Frazier in their three fights, and he did it most notably to Foreman before the Rumble in the Jungle. He would have pulled out every possible stop in going after Tyson before the fight - said shit about everything from his momma to his rape convictions to his pigeons - and would have had Mike so fucking tight, and so fucking angry, before the fight that Tyson would want to just tear his head off.
This sounds great, right? But it’s not, cause in pro boxing, when you’re tense, you get tired, and when you’re pissed off, you make HUGE mistakes.This, of course, would have played directly into Ali’s hands.
Also, Ali was, at 6’3", much taller than most give him credit for. In reality, even though he’s always portrayed as smaller than Foreman, they were about the same size, and Ali had a bigger fist and a longer reach. Foreman was just wider and more intimidating. Ali would have a MASSIVE reach advantage over the 5’10" or 5’11" Tyson, and he would have known how to use it.
Tyson was awesome at using his peekaboo style to get inside, that’s true, but as fast as he would come forward, Ali would have slipped away, especially at 22 years old, when he was arguably at his best after the Patterson/Liston victories. Patterson, of course, was also trained by Cus D’Amato, and used the same peekaboo style (although not so perfectly as Tyson did.)
And, even though his angle were incredible - he could shift around your lead hand, hit you with a right hook in the ribs, follow with an uppercut, and all from a spot where you couldn’t hit him - they only worked on the inside because he was too damned short. As a result, that would have been seriously neutralized against a fleet-footed opponent.
And then there is Ali’s chin, which he rarely gets credit for but was actually incredible. He stood up to Joe Frazier’s wildly devastating left hook for 36 rounds and only got knocked down once (and he barely took a count before popping up) and stood in with and convincingly defeated some of the hardest punchers the game’s ever seen in Liston, Foreman, Shavers, and Frazier.
So Ali-Tyson I always see going one way.
The first few rounds are Ali moving and dancing, jabbing and talking, and occasionally hitting Tyson with a couple of solid rights, just to let him know that coming in is a bad idea. Tyson comes forward, maybe lands a few shots, but Ali is moving away all the time and rolling them. He’s gonna tire Mike out before he decides to fight him.
As the middle rounds progress, Tyson gets in a couple times, lands some hard shots, some good 5-6-3’s, some hooks and uppercuts that shake Ali a little… but as the rounds keep passing, and you get into the eighth, ninth, and tenth, Tyson - who could NEVER go the distance against a good fighter, and didn’t know what to do when someone could not only stand up to his punch, but fight back - would start getting hit with a lot of the same punches that Joe Frazier did - a lot of 2-3-2’s, straight shots that keep him too far to punch back without taking a lot of punishment.
Ali would time his slips, start punching towards his shoulders so Mike put his face right into them, and would follow with combinations that stung just enough before dipping back out and making Tyson try to cut off the ring.
By the championship rounds, Tyson is probably exhausted, and his right eye is probably swelling. More importantly, though, he’s demoralized, like all punchers get when they’re used to the guy in front of them disappearing after one blow. Ali knows this, and now he’s tearing into him - look at round 14 of Ali-Frazier III, where Joe is just getting absolutely murdered by lead rights and hooks - and I suspect that some point in the 11th, 12th, or 13th round (if we’re talking about an old-school 15 rounds), Ali knocks him out or makes him quit.
Who knows. I could be wrong. But I’ve thought about this one for a long time, and I just do not see Ali - who never, ever, ever got knocked out - losing this one.
GOAT. All day.[/quote]
Wow! On the mark, well thought out and written. I don’t think an ESPN dude could have put it any better. On the point of Ali getting him worked up I don’t know if that would help. Iron Mike fought mad so it may not phase him.
Good read![/quote]
Irish is a damn talented sports writer.